Builders in Fulham

Homes in Fulham

Hammersmith & Fulham's planning guidance describes the typical Fulham house as a late-Victorian or Edwardian terrace with a narrower back addition behind. Moore Park, laid out in the 1850s, was the earliest estate development in Fulham. The Peterborough Estate, now within the Studdridge Street conservation area, was built mostly by the Irish builder James Nichols from 1888 to around 1904, and the council's profile notes that most of its houses have since been extended with mansard attic floors and basement rooms.

That history shapes what works today. Side-return extensions alongside the back addition, rear kitchen extensions and mansard loft conversions are the most common projects. On the Peterborough Estate, the council's profile describes a slate front mansard behind the parapet and half-gable, with two rooflights, as an acceptable design that is now widespread.

Planning in Fulham

Fulham is covered by the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham, whose Local Plan was adopted in 2018. Its conservation areas include Parsons Green, Studdridge Street, Moore Park, Bishops Park, Hurlingham, Central Fulham, Fulham Park Gardens, Walham Green, Walham Grove, Crabtree, Sands End, Barclay Road and Putney Bridge, with profiles on H&F's conservation areas pages.

Many Fulham streets are also covered by Article 4 directions, mostly controlling front roofs, gables and dormers, and in some areas windows, render, painting and rear structures. They include the Peterborough Estate streets such as Studdridge, Bovingdon, Chiddingstone and Quarrendon, the Bishops Park streets around Stevenage Road and Cloncurry Street, parts of Parsons Green, Fulham Park Gardens, Central Fulham, Hurlingham, Walham Grove, Crabtree, Mimosa Street and Fabian Road. Check your address before planning anything visible from the street.

The council's Planning Guidance is specific. A rear extension should not normally project more than 3.5 metres beyond the original back addition, come within 4 metres of the rear boundary or cover more than half of the original garden, and side infills next to the back addition are limited to 2 metres high on the boundary with a roof slope of no more than 45 degrees. In conservation areas, front roof extensions are generally unacceptable (with accepted exceptions such as the Peterborough Estate mansard), removing chimney stacks is resisted, and hip-to-gable conversions are resisted where hips are part of the original pattern.

Every basement in Hammersmith & Fulham needs planning permission: a borough-wide Article 4 direction has removed permitted development rights for basements since April 2018. Policy DC11 of the H&F Local Plan limits a basement to one storey, restricts how far it can extend under the garden (no more than half the garden's depth), requires at least a metre of soil above any part under the garden, sustainable drainage and protection against sewer flooding, and asks for a construction method statement by a qualified engineer. New self-contained basement flats are not permitted in areas at risk of rapid flooding unless a safe means of escape is provided.

Worth knowing locally

• Much of Hammersmith & Fulham south of the Uxbridge Road, including Fulham, is in Thames Flood Zone 3, protected by defences built to a 1-in-1,000-year standard. Expect a site-specific flood risk assessment, structural waterproofing details and non-return valves for any basement; see the council's flood risk assessment.
• The council's pre-application service states that basement proposals require a meeting with a planning officer, so allow time for it.
• Building above existing back additions, particularly above ground level, is generally resisted, so most successful schemes extend at ground floor and into the roof instead.